Dean Jody Goodman Resigns, Prompts Further Questions for Administration

Savannah Brooks ’26

Managing Editor

In early March 2024, Dean of Student Life and Director of the Bantam Network Dr. Jody Goodman resigned from her position at Trinity. Goodman, the acting advisor for the Student Government Association (SGA), held her position since 2020 after serving as the Assistant Dean of Students. Goodman resigned for “her personal needs,” Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management Joe DiChristina told the Tripod. “I’m starting a search for that position.”

Beginning in the fall of 2023, Goodman was appointed to be the advisor of the SGA after current SGA president Jake McPhail ‘24 expressed a need for more collaboration between the SGA and the administration. “I had to fight for an advisor,” he told the Tripod. “I was trying to claw for institutional support… I’ve been working with faculty and deans who have been so helpful to me. They [were] like; ‘You don’t have an advisor? You should find one.’” That advisor became Goodman who, as McPhail said, “was helpful in the fall… We met weekly. She was always great. But then she just disappeared over winter break.” 

Goodman’s resignation comes on the heels of one other major administrative official leaving his role; just this past fall, Assistant Dean of Community Life and Restorative Justice and Director of Greek Life Trevor Beauford (known colloquially as Dean Trevor or Dean Trev to the Trinity community) somewhat mysteriously exited his position at the College, leaving students confused as to the circumstances surrounding his leave. Beauford, who has recently been appointed as the Interim Chaplain and Director of Spiritual and Religious Life at Hamilton College, was also surrounded with controversy during his hiring in the summer of 2021, with the Tripod reporting that the search process for his position was largely internal and highly confusing. Goodman and Beauford are both still currently listed as deans on the “Meet the Deans” page on the official Trinity website.

“There was a lot of shady stuff going on with [Dean Beauford] in terms of him vying for power, trying to get more control over student leadership… And then he disappeared,” McPhail said. “There was never a reason given… I can’t say for certain why but it was under mysterious circumstances. And now it happened again, with Dean Goodman… So, it’s a network of people who had… fishy stuff going on, and now they’re all disappearing.” When asked about Beauford’s departure, DiChristina noted that “He left the institution at the end of August, beginning of September… For his personal needs, he made a decision to follow that career path.”

Both departures have rattled the SGA’s operations. McPhail described the process of learning about Goodman’s absence, saying that he “met with her weekly… And she was never there. She just wouldn’t show up… Everyone was wondering, where in the world is Dean Goodman? People truly had no idea. They thought maybe it was a leave of absence… But the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and she never came back… but she’s the Dean of Student Life, right? That’s a pretty important role. So I was pretty unhappy… with how that situation was handled.” 

Regarding Beauford, McPhail noted that “He disappear[ed] after doing so much damage to the institutional structure of the school. He [built] everything to lean on him.” However, McPhail still believes that the SGA is strong and getting stronger. “We’ve been operating really pretty smoothly… We just have a great executive board that really cares about students and the college as a whole. Do I wish we had a stronger voice on campus and did more stuff? Yes. But I think in terms of rebuilding ourselves from COVID… this year has been very successful.”

When it comes to filling the now-vacant positions, DiChristina mentioned that “Dean[s] are extremely important positions for our students… So having students engaged in [the hiring search] is extremely important.” He emphasized that the administration is always open to student support in hiring new deans and that if any student is interested in being involved in the hiring process they should contact him.